I'm a little late to this party, but one thing jumped out at me during the most recent kerfuffle over Elaine Palmer's primary challenge to sitting Democratic judge, Steve Kirkland. PKH covers the internecine aspect of the battle, which is bad enough. A ride through the Third Ward over the weekend for the Senate District convention also saw a number of "empty lot" signs of Palmer's posted on a lot of places where there were no voters to be had. At best, that's just funny. Besides, one location had both Palmer's and Kirkland's signs next to each other.

But some of the other communication that Palmer has done has been worth noting, also. Below the fold is an email from around 3/12. In it, you get pictures of a couple that were "Meet & Greet" hosts as well as another of "Supporters." The problem with this is that the "supporters" aren't really supporters. The photo is a stock photo that anyone can buy for about a buck or two. You can see the stock photo of one of the couples in this email here.

And every other name mentioned in the email as a supporter or host doesn't turn up as a registered voter in Harris County.

A few days after that, the Palmer campaign sent a similar email with the following prayer included in it (emphasis mine):

Heavenly Father...

As we approach the upcoming election for Civil District Judge 215, we ask you to strengthen Elaine Palmer in her commitment to dispense with mercy and compassion. Thank you for preparing her through education and experience for public service. We ask that she continue to be a beacon of hope for those often mistreated by our legal system.

We ask that you touch her opponent, helping him to resist the temptation of dirty politics. So often, desire overrules ethics. We ask that, like Elaine Palmer, her opponent run a campaign grounded in truth and rooted in high moral character.

And we thank you for the opportunity to choose our political destiny without fear and intimidation, a right fought for by those who walked the path of freedom before us.

Bless us, Father, and bless Elaine Palmer.
Amen

I think I've crossed paths with Judge Kirkland once or twice back in 2008. I can't say he's one of those judicial candidates that I'd jump and scream about everyone needing to vote for based on any knowledge of him in the past. But stuff like this makes it easy for me to make a point of voting for Kirkland this time around.

Does being first on the ballotimprove your chance of winning public office? YES!

Specialists in the mechanics of voting have long recognized that the order in which candidates' names appear on aballot influences voters' decisions. Typically, candidates listed at the top of a ballot earn a greater share of the vote than they would receive in any other position, regardless of their policies and personalities. Now research on voting patterns in local state elections coauthored by a Kellogg School researcher has taken the issue a stage further. It concludes that the first listing on the ballot also increases a candidate's chances of actually winning office-by almost five percentage points.

And:

The results were clear-cut. "In one out of ten elections, the candidate listed first won just because he was listedfirst," Salant recalls. "The first candidate advantage," the paper notes, "comes primarily at the expense of candidates listed in the median ballot position who are 2.5 percentage points less likely to win office than expected absent order effects" (Figure 1). The first candidate advantage was "similar in city council and in school board elections, in races with and without an open seat, and in races consolidated and not consolidated with statewide general elections." In addition, the percentages of winners from specific positions remained similar whether the elections were designed to produce one or more winners.

Thank you to the many people I've met during this campaign for Civil District Judge 215. I appreciate the warm reception I've received in churches, and senior centers, and from people I meet on the streets. I am grateful for the wise counsel I have received. I am moved by those who shake my hand and share their stories of their fight for justice and ask that when I get elected that I don't forget where I came from, and serve all people fairly. Keep me in your prayers, and join me on this road to become the next Civil District Judge 215.

We can win this together.

Elaine Palmer

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